Children suffer in East Timor conflicts<\/p>\n
By Jupriadi<\/p>\n
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Ishak is only four months
\nold, but he already shoulders a heavy burden from the political
\nconflict in his birthplace, Tanah Lorosae, better known as East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
As Indonesia's youngest province is rocked with more
\nturbulence and the conflicting prointegration and proindependence
\nfactions are embroiled in mutual terror, residents, be they
\nnative East Timorese or migrants, can no longer enjoy a peaceful
\nlife.<\/p>\n
Ishak no longer has a mother. His mother, Mariam, died after
\ndelivering him among the prointegrationists in Kaewati village,
\nOsuka district, Viuqueque regency.<\/p>\n
\"Mariam was greatly depressed before and when she gave birth
\nto Ishak because everybody here was terrorized by the
\nproindependence group and was getting ready to flee our village,\"
\nsaid Siti Aminah, Ishak's foster mother.<\/p>\n
Ishak was taken to Ujungpandang, the capital of South
\nSulawesi, at the height of armed clashes between prointegration
\nand proindependence groups.<\/p>\n
\"We prefer to flee to Ujungpandang because of the terror and
\nviolence we have been subjected to by the proindepedence
\nfaction,\" YM Tanetti, the head of the group of East Timorese
\nmaking their exodus to South Sulawesi, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Tanetti and members of the exodus group hailing from three
\nregencies of Liquica, Viuqueque and Los Palos, left East Timor in
\nearly June.<\/p>\n
\"Besides the terror, we also have qualms about the fate of
\nEast Timor after the direct balloting (slated for later in August
\n1999),\" he added.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever the outcome is of the direct balloting held by
\nUNAMET, we believe this will never solve the problem. Besides, we
\nknow that UNAMET is not neutral,\" he added, in reference to the
\nUnited Nations Mission in East Timor which is organizing the
\nself-determination vote.<\/p>\n
Now cute Ishak lives under the care of his foster mother in an
\naccommodation center for Muslim refugees from East Timor at
\nAlauddin Mosque on Jl. Racing Center here. Along with 23 other
\nunder-five-year-olds, Ishak has to go on living in the absence of
\nparental love. His father, Sulaeman, earns a living in Maros
\ndistrict, some 30 km to the south of here.<\/p>\n
\"In Ujungpandang, he cannot find a job, so he has to take a
\njob anywhere in order to be able to earn some money. He sees
\nIshak once a week,\" Siti Aminah said.<\/p>\n
Ishak represents a gloomy picture of how the political feud in
\nEast Timor has reached its most critical stage, especially in the
\nrun-up to the direct ballot by which East Timorese will decide
\nwhether to remain part of Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or
\nbecome an independent state.<\/p>\n
Of 100 refugees sheltered at the Alauddin Mosque, two-thirds
\nare under five years old or are school-age children.<\/p>\n
Just like a war camp, the children lead a miserable life.
\nThey are undernourished and do not have enough area to play in.
\nThey are compelled to live under the shadow of gloominess.
\nUnderstandably, many of them have become sulky.<\/p>\n
As for school-age children, many do not attend school anymore
\nand prefer to earn a living outside the refugee center. Some do
\ngo to schools which are owned by local orphanages but are ill-
\nequipped.<\/p>\n
\"I go to school at an orphanage but the facilities are much
\npoorer than those I had back in East Timor,\" said one of the
\nyoung refugees.<\/p>\n
M. Darwis, a sociologist at Hasanuddin University here told
\nthe Post that being refugees would have a deep traumatic impact
\non the children.<\/p>\n
Although the government provides help with food, clothing and
\nmoney, it does not automatically mean these children would have
\nany bright prospects, he said.<\/p>\n
Worse yet, the refugee children left their homeland along with
\ntheir parents under great fear and intimidation. \"The memory that
\nthese children have of violence is practically indelible. Unless
\nthese children are properly taken care of, their trauma will stay
\nwith them all their lives,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said traumatic experiences would develop into offensive or
\ndefensive behavior. If these children become offensive later,
\nthey will be revengeful and rude. On the other hand, if they
\ndevelop a defensive behavior, they will remain sulky and refuse
\nto relate to outsiders.<\/p>\n
Darwis gave as an example the plight of Palestinian children.
\nChildhood trauma lived with them until they grew up, when they
\ntook up the resistance movement and inflicted more trauma to
\nthemselves and others.<\/p>\n
As a result, each generation never recovered from their
\nchildhood trauma. \"The fate of the Palestinian children serves as
\na good lesson for us all,\" Darwis said.<\/p>\n
So, he went on, donors and regional administrations should not
\nonly think of how to fulfill the refugees' material needs but,
\nmore than that, how to deal with the refugee children.<\/p>\n
\"There must be psychological therapy for these children, or
\notherwise, whatever the outcome of the upcoming direct balloting
\nmay be, new problems will continue to crop up. This has to do
\nwith the revengeful feelings of East Timorese children,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Ishak is only one of the unfortunate children. Dark pages in
\nthe history of children's lives in Bosnia, Palestine, Kosovo,
\nLebanon and elsewhere under the sun show that children always
\nfall victim to the clashes of adults. The sad lives of refugee
\nchildren in Aceh, Buton, Southeast Sulawesi and Ujungpandang have
\ntaught us how the future of these children has been lost because
\nof adult conflicts.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/children-suffer-in-east-timor-conflicts-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}